February 11th, 2017 by Mike

Liz, a Maple Leaf neighbor, posts on Facebook:

We are looking for a new home for our dog, Barkley. Anyone interested can email me at lknaster@yahoo.com. He needs to be in a home without young children. I know that excludes many of you, but if you know anyone else interested please forward to them. Thank you.

Hi, My name is Barkley!I am a Black with brown markings Male Labrador/Rottweiler mix Dog. I am 11 years young and weigh 53 lbs. I live in Seattle, WA.

Here is what my owners love the most about me:

1. Loving. He always loves to be rubbed and connect with you.
2. Intelligent. He learns quickly and is very responsive.
3. Loyal. Once he finds his “person” he will follow them around and watch out for them.
4. Adorable. He has the cutest, most expressive eyebrows! Looking at him always brings a smile to my face.
5. Trusting. He will let you brush his teeth and not growl or back off!

August 5th, 2015 by Mike

Calling all Maple Leaf dog owners and UW Husky fans! Bring your dog out to Red Square at the University of Washington on Sunday, August 9th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for a chance to be in an upcoming BECU campaign commercial.

If you would like to participate, please RSVP to becucasting@dnaseattle.com and submit your name and contact information. We strongly encourage you to wear purple and bring your dog in UW gear, if you’ve got it, to join in on the fun!

BECU will be shooting a video of BECU dogs barking and playing to the sound of the Husky fight song. The video will be shared on becu.org and other social media outlets to help promote the upcoming campaign.

Please note this is a casting call and we cannot guarantee that your dog will make it into the final campaign commercial.

Enough said. (Except this disclosure: The mascot of the University of Washington Huskies is not, in fact, a Husky.)

2) This weekend the Natural Balance dog food company will be hosting “‘the exciting Natural Character Café’ — Seattle’s first pop-up “doggie foodie station” where dogs can sample a wide variety of wholesome Natural Balance food and treats specially formulated to bring out their one-of-a-kind personalities.”

The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department and Seattle City Council are giving dog friends an opportunity to voice their concerns about the present state of off-leash areas through a new survey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SeattleDogSurvey). Want a separate area for shy, small, or recovering dogs? Wish there were lights for those February days when it’s dark by 4:30 p.m.? Speak! Even if you don’t use the off-leash areas, tell them why you don’t – the survey is anonymous.

Seattle has 14 dog parks providing a little more than 26 acres of off-leash land, but our big-city neighbors – Portland, San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C. – average 32 dog parks each. Those three cities can boast an average of nearly 120 acres each. Woof!

(HOWEVER we can report, anecdotally, that dog traffic at the Oasis has doubled – perhaps tripled – since the opening of the north entrance to the Maple Leaf Reservoir Park. We know this because the treat jar at the Oasis now has to be refilled daily.)

In Maple Leaf, Dog Density is between 400 and 600. In the 98115 zip code, that’s 80 dogs per 1,000 residents.

One zip code north of Ballard boasts 116 dogs per 1,000 two-legs.

The Dog Oasis is neutral on the Times’ finding that the most popular dog name here is “Lucy.”

There are a total of 490 dogs named Lucy in the city, and that’s not including variants of the name, like Lucy Latte (could a dog name get any more Seattle?).

February 17th, 2015 by Mike

Grace emails:

I’d like to give a shout out to a local who really helped me out yesterday with a thorny situation. I love our neighborhood. People are so nice!

Walking my dog Luna on Northeast 90th street near Maple Leaf Ace Hardware, and as dogs do she was sniffing around the front edge of a neighbor’s yard ( 2-3 feet off the sidewalk but admittedly in their yard).

Suddenly she was covered with sticky, thorny cactus stickers. They were all over her face and paws. I couldn’t touch them. They needed leather gloves or tweezers.

Two ladies were walking by with their dog and one came over to help me. She calmly used her fingers to pull them off my dog. It took a good five minutes while I held my upset dog and wasn’t easy. I’m sure she poked herself a lot. The stickers burned and itched.

I was so upset that I thanked her profusely but didn’t get a name to thank her appropriately.

Luna and I then went right to Maple Leaf Vet where they were able to squeeze her in and pulled fifteen thorns out of her paws.

So a big thank you to a local, whose name I don’t know but would love to, and to the vet for squeezing her in. I’ve thanked them. And paid them. But the local I probably would not even recognize if I saw her.

November 30th, 2012 by Mike

Local veterinarians and dog blogs are warning of an outbreak of potentially deadly canine parvovirus in the area – a warning especially interesting to the dog havens of northeast Seattle, including Maple Leaf.

Renton-based ACCES (Animal Critical Care and Emergency Services) sent out a notice over the weekend that it has seen seven cases of parvo over the past two weeks, an unusually high number for the emergency clinic.

Currently there appears to be a community-wide parvo outbreak

The animals seen at ACCES have tested positive for parvo at both the clinic’s Seattle and Renton locations

Monitor your pet for vomiting, diarrhea, and/or lethargy

The strain has been affecting EVEN VACCINATED ANIMALS

See your regular veterinarian to have your pet tested for parvo if you notice any symptoms

Minimize your pet’s contact with other animals at this time

Contact your vet to see whether it’s advisable for your pet get a booster for parvo

The ACCES notice can be read here at the Seattle DogSpot blog, which notes it has posted three times about parvo so far this month.

The Everett release notes that the virus spreads easily and can live in the ground, in feeding dishes, on collars, leashes, hands and clothes of pet handlers for long periods of time. Dogs can shed the virus for up to two weeks before showing any signs of illness.

January 21st, 2012 by Mike

You remember the Maple Leaf Brewery? Buried now under several feet of snow posts, last week’s community discussion of the possible brewery generated 91 comments. So far.

Comment No. 91 is from the potential owners/brewers, Monica and Kevin:

Thanks, all, for your great feedback and support. After a lot of thought and hard number-crunching, we decided against leasing the warehouse space at 94th and Roosevelt. It was a difficult decision given the overwhelming positive commentary from the neighborhood, and given our dream of building Maple Leaf’s first brewery and community beer garden.

We are still very much interested in creating, or co-creating, the Maple Leaf Brewery and tasting room, and will be on the lookout for properties that make financial sense for this, as well as people who might be willing to partner with us to make this happen in some form.

January 13th, 2012 by master

In true neighborhood style, a Maple Leaf family with a young child and dog is reaching out to the community to gauge interest in their proposal to create the Maple Leaf Brewery.

The brewery would be located at 849 N.E. 94th St., behind A.W. Hoss & Son, and would include a child- and dog-friendly tasting room (but not a restaurant).

They hope to move forward with leasing the space in the next couple of days, but would like to get your feedback first. They’re distributing the following flier to neighbors:

Land Use Proposal for Your Neighborhood: 94th and Roosevelt

Maple Leaf Microbrewery & Family-Friendly “Beer Garden”

Hello Neighbors,

We are a young family who reside in Maple Leaf. We would like to lease the warehouse at 849 NE 94th Street and establish a small beer brewery and tasting room there. The Department of Planning and Development has assured us that a micro- or “nano”-brewery is an approved use of that space.

We wanted to take this opportunity to explain our idea to you, our neighbors; and answer any questions you might have. We are, of course, open to your feedback and commentary as well. Our goal is to make this business a positive contribution to the community, and your opinion is important to us. [Read more →]

August 23rd, 2011 by Mike

The Maple Leaf Dog Oasis is happy to thank Elly for the donation of a new treat jar to the popular canine attraction at the corner of 12th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 89th Street.

And not just any jar.

THIS jar has a sturdy handle molded right into the body of the jar. Try and get through that, masked bandits!

Last Friday morning dogs being walked along 12th were left bereft after the Dog Oasis suffered an overnight raccoon attack.

The previous jar could only be tethered to the oasis by a flimsy handle that didn’t stand up long to raccoon teeth and paws. It was MIA by first light (and later recovered in a neighbor’s back yard).

The Dog.Oasis has been getting by on a temporary jar since, but THIS jar is now in place, thanks to Elly.

While we’re on the subject, the Dog Oasis maintainers (that would be me and Caroline) would like to remind folks to screw the lid back on fully after treating their dog. Otherwise squirrels, which aren’t strong enough to steal the jar but ARE able to pry off an ill-secured lid, clean us out about once a month.

Incidentally, there have been quite a few raccoon comments on the original post. You can read them here.

Speaking of dogs, our neighbors in Ravenna are reporting a lost Havanese that they think might have wandered this way.

“I ask you to post a message about Buddy, the little Havanese that got away from his dog sitter on 65th. There’s a full post from the owner here , complete with a picture and a phone number – would you be willing to spread the word in your ‘hood?” – Jenny.

Update Aug. 19: Buddy is back home, according to a post on the Ravenna blog.

“A few kids playing soccer at Eckstein Middle School called with the tip, and my wife Susie went and scooped him up.”